Monkey Brains

Lisa Solomon
is an artist that I haven't met..yet. I stumbled across her blog one day and immediately was envious of her work.I was lucky enough to convince her to partake in the
Lucky Dip Art swap and was even more thrilled when her swap partner turned out to be my husband. It was probably the only way I could get something of hers hanging on my walls.Not only does she have time to do a drawing a day.She also has her own T-shirt and Bag company
I can barely manage a shower a day,let alone a company, blogsite, drawings daily and create art.It was impossible to just choose a few of her art to post.You will have to go to her site and spend the time viewing it all,it's well worth it.

Do you have a collection?

** yes I do. I have been very lucky and have been able to trade with many friends whose work I admire. I also used to work in a contemporary art gallery and received some amazing pieces from artists as gifts.

Where is your favorite place to create?

**my studio and my home

What is your favorite building?

** I don’t know if I have one....I do have a fondness for architectural details of all sorts.

If you could have invented anything,what would it have been/or be?

** a money tree ??

Name three things you would like to do before you die?

** only 3? This is too hard!

What do you need to create art?

** my thoughts, the right frame of mind, my art supplies

What's your favorite piece of art hanging in your house right now?

** too hard... Have more than one favorite

Do you collaborate with others?

** sometimes. I do really like collaborating with like minds

Do you work on more then one piece at a time?

** YES

Do you share your work with others before it is finished?

** sometimes... rarely

Do you listen to music while you're working? If so what?

** YES!! so many different things.... Neko case, cub country, tom waits, nick cave, radiohead are often on... So is NPR or This American Life

If you could be commissioned by anyone who would it be and what would you create for them?

** drawing a blank on this one

If you could commission anyone to do art for you, who would it be?

** I think I would love to have anything by Eva Hesse. Of course seeing that she’s dead, that might not be possible, but.... Theoretically...

How do you know when something is finished?

** it feels done. I can’t see what else I would do to it.

what or who influences your work?

** everyone and everything. I get inspired by nature, but rust, by sentences that I read... Movies that I see.... I feel sometimes like I’m a colander and things just run through me {I like the idea of a colander because it also can serve as a bowl to hold things}.

If you could curate a group exhibition of any artists since the dawn of time, who would you include and why?

** oh this is a tough one.... Eva Hesse {duh}. Vermeer.... I can never get enough of his compositions and use of light..... Anne Wilson, Ghada Ahmer, Gees Bend Quilts, Marcel Dzama, Rivane Neuenschwander, Agnes Martin, Mindy Shapero, Philip Guston, Robert Gober, Indian Miniature paintings, ... I could go on forever. This show doesn’t really have any thematic unity, but would just be moving to me. All these people have taken my breath away, or made me laugh, or made me think. I think I’m often drawn to pattern, to texture, to an obsessive way of making.... This is actually a short list, but I guess my brain can only whirr for so long

What is your favorite museum, gallery, place to see art and why?

** I don’t have a favorite. I do like seeing art in people’s homes, though. How they live with it. And also in the artist’s studio.

What has been the most unique thing you've used to create art with?

** I dunno. Rifle targets, crocheted electrical wire?

What do you wish your art tasted like?

** panna cotta. Without a doubt!

Artist+Writer+ (model)= Harvest

Harvest Henderson is a trifecta.She's an artist,writer and model
(sshh, don't tell her I told you that). Which means, that not ony is she talented and intellectual.She is beautiful as well.

Do you have a collection?
I used to collect unicorn figurines when I was little; I wish I still had them. What was I thinking, giving 20 perfectly good glass unicorns to Goodwill? So stupid. I have only a modest art collection at this point: A photograph by a friend gifted to us at our wedding, a drawing by another Portland artist acquired in a holiday art swap, a small sculpture a Vancouver artist sent me in the mail, a couple of paintings of my husband's that I wouldn't let him sell.

Where is your favorite place to create?
I work on the floor. Chairs bother me.

What is your favorite building?
The Portlandia building downtown. Notre Dame. Frank Gehry's Weisman art museum in Minneapolis. My new house.

If you could have invented anything, what would it have been/or be?
Post-it notes. Like Romy and Michelle.

Name three things you would like to do before you die?
Ok, since I only get three, I have to make them really broad: 1) Publish several books, become a radio celebrity, show well-received installation work in many cities. 2) Travel to or live in 30+ countries in SE Asia, South America, Africa, and Europe. 3) Live to be over 100 together with Scott, in love and in great health, surrounded by happy passionate family and friends. I think that would do.

What do you need to create art?
Time. Motivation. Acceptance that some of it is just absolute shit, and it still has a purpose and a benefit.

What's your favorite piece of art hanging in your house right now?
Well, they're not hanging at the moment because I need to get them framed, but right now I'm partial to the 8 drawings on foam core panels that Scott commissioned for our anniversary this spring. They were done by a local comic artist named Kaebel Hashitami and they tell the story of how we met and fell in love.

Do you collaborate with others?
I've tried collaborating with my husband, but we're both control freaks and work at very different paces. I think our styles are complementary if we can get past that eventually. I'm easing into casual, collaborative mail art with Ellen George; the first couple times I sent her something and she modified it and sent it back, I got my feelings hurt, thinking "Why does she send everything back?" Ha!

Do you work on more than one piece at a time?
Yes, depending on deadline and medium. With paintings, I have several going at once for long durations; with installation, it's usually fast and dirty.

Do you share your work with others before it is finished?
I'm not even 100% keen on sharing it once it *is* finished half the time...

Do you listen to music while you're working? If so what?
Yes. Something I can sing along to. Usually something upbeat to try to keep self-doubt at bay.

If you could be commissioned by anyone who would it be and what would you create for them?
I really have no idea. I guess I would find it interesting to be commissioned to create a creative sanctuary space for someone... I'm interested in how interior spaces affect the way people live and work.


How do you know when something is finished?
When it's what?

What or who influences your work?
I steal little pieces of things I see in good design... metaphors or lines of text from books... illustrations from old encyclopedias. I love Chinese candy wrappers. I love repeating patterns, especially of circles. I'm pretty impressionable and I think I soak a lot in from the work of others that I see around town or in publications. I tend to glob onto something I like and mull it over for a long time before moving on. I've been crushing hard on Motherwell's 'Elegy to the Spanish Republic' series for about a year now, though it's not at all evident in my work. There's also a Willy Heeks painting at the PAM that I'm pretty crazy about.


What is your favorite museum, gallery, place to see art and why?
I have a soft spot for the Walker Art Center in my hometown of Minneapolis. I used to take the bus to work in Uptown past the Walker almost every day, and I loved reading the Lawrence Weiner text installation on the side of the building like a daily mantra: BITS & PIECES PUT TOGETHER TO PRESENT A SEMBLANCE OF A WHOLE. They finished their renovation last spring, doubling their space, and I dig the new design as much as I dig the programming. I've seen some great stuff there, from a show of Hannah Hoch's collages that totally inspired me in college to an incredible retrospective of work by Huang Yong Ping this past winter.

What has been the most unique thing you've used to create art with?
Probably the most interesting tactile experience for me was putting together an installation made of fresh sod; it was fun learning to cut it with a sharp knife (lost a little bit of fingertip, but such is life) and I got to get really muddy. Plus it smelled awesome in the gallery.

The World Cup

Is the most amazing sports event.

Glass Shields

Matt Haber was kind enough to start out my new project of question and answers with artists. I first met him about 4 years ago when he participated in a Lucky Dip art swap. I ended up taking home his small painting that hangs in my house.Not only does he have the talent and passion.He has a show,it seems every week.Also he's pretty funny and does good impressions of beavers.
The following are some questions that he took time to answer for me.

Do you have a collection?
yes mostly my friends work, which keeps me very inspired..

Where is your favorite place to create?
a place where all of the elements of light, temperature and noise are controlled.. i'm an obsessive artist!

What is your favorite building?
i like clusters of buildings more than individual ones.

What do you need to create art?
a good working right hand, a good working right brain.

Do you collaborate with others?
not as much as i'd like to, but in many ways my talks with others are as if collaborations since ideas are being explored and i really trust my circle of art friends' opinions..

Do you work on more then one piece at a time?
yes, only when i've "hit a wall" with a different piece i'll start a new one. otherwise not really.

Do you share your work with others before it is finished?
this is imperative. a trustworthy friend will always see something you missed. if i've sent out a piece to a show without showing it to a friend first i worry quite a lot.

Do you listen to music while you're working? If so what?
actually i listen to very fast paced stuff 80% of the time, much slower mellower stuff the other 20%

What is your favorite museum, gallery, place to see art and why?
PS1 in new york, i really like the space (it is an old public school converted into a modern art gallery) and i'm always inspired when i go there with the good variety of exhibitions.

What do you wish your art tasted like?
nothing, but i really like the smell of paint. i want to taste Jenny Saville's paintings- they look delicious (the paint application, not the subject matter!)

Olive Branches

I've been so neglect when it comes to this blog as of late.
I blame the World Cup, Art projects, Exhibitions a sick baby and all around laziness.
For the next few weeks I', going to be showcasing fellow artists.
I'm taking names, asking questions and I will post each week a new person.
Starting...After England's game tomorrow Morning.

They're My Rules

I scrubbed the floors
on my hands and knees.
I now have a
NO SHOE POLICY.
You must remove your shoes before coming into my home.
You must,it's the rules.
It would make for an uncomfortable visit talking through the door.

Reading:
About Grace by: Anthony Doerr

Listening:
Lemon Yellow

Doing:
A spec music video of a song by: Soul Wax

Seeing: Saturday night The World Explained

Waiting:
The world cup to start
Friends in town
Hockney to open
Saturday night to end.My new exhibiton opens.


Those of you know know my stationary obsessions.I just joined and as a surprise a friend will be getting a gift membership from me as well

I like how Gigi uses piglet as pillow
I like that I'm in touch with old friends whom I haven't seen in about 8 years.
I like that I have found a space for the gallery adn am in no hurry to get moved into it. It wont be going anywhere so I don't feel pressure.So I can do it right the first time. I feel pressure to get a website going.I need help.I need a web designer and hopefully someone with patience.
I have one week to finish cleaning my studio,ready for guests.
I ate cheerios for dinner.
ok, now I'm just writing to fill space.Wasting space cause I feel guilty for not writing in so long